Finance minister vows deregulation, support for startups

South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Wednesday that the government will ceaselessly seek deregulation and provide support for startups, which are key to innovation-led growth.Attending a meeting with businessmen, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said his successor shares the view that smaller firms should play a leading role in the innovation-led growth strategy. "Startups, their growth and deregulation are very important (for innovation-led growth), and the government will continue

Nov. 21, 2018

Seoul shares close lower on Wall Street losses

South Korean shares closed lower Wednesday after the US stock market finished bearish for the second session in a row, analysts said. The Korean won closed lower against the dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 6.03 points, or 0.29 percent, to end trading at 2,076.55. Trading volume stood at a low 262 million shares worth 4.95 trillion won ($4.37 billion). Gainers outpaced losers 433 to 379. The drop came after the Dow Jones industrial average backtracked 2.21 percent, and

Nov. 21, 2018

US-China trade dispute could provide opportunity for Korean farmers: institute

The ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China is adding uncertainties to the global agriculture market, but it could create a favorable business environment for South Korean farmers, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. The Korea Rural Economic Institute said the tit-for-tat tariff conflict between Washington and Beijing could affect price competitiveness and overall conditions in the agro-food markets of the two countries, which could open up more opportunities for products fr

Nov. 21, 2018

Structural reform key task amid slowing global economy: BIS official

As the global economy faces an inevitable slowdown next year, major economies should lay emphasis on structural reforms to respond to the decline in labor productivity and growth potential, according to a top-level official of the Bank for International Settlements.“I agree with the International Monetary Fund’s revised forecast in September, when it cut down the global economic growth for next year to 3.7 percent from the former 3.9 percent,” Agustin Carstens, general manager

Nov. 20, 2018

Seoul shares close lower, tracking Wall Street

South Korean stocks closed lower on Tuesday after rising to a four-week high in the previous session as overnight losses on Wall Street, where investors were concerned over trade tension between Washington and Beijing, analysts said.The South Korean currency gained ground against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 17.98 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2082.58. Trading volume was relatively light at 274 million shares worth 4.8 trillion won ($4.26 billion), wi

Nov. 20, 2018

Regulator asks prosecutors to probe accounting breaches at Samsung BioLogics

South Korea's financial regulator formally asked state prosecutors on Tuesday to launch a criminal probe into accounting breaches at Samsung BioLogics Co., a move that is expected to deal another blow to the biotechnology unit of Samsung Group.After months of regulatory review, a panel of the Financial Services Commission ruled last Wednesday that Samsung BioLogics intentionally inflated the value of its affiliate, Samsung Bioepis Co., ahead of its listing in 2016.  Trading of Samsung BioLo

Nov. 20, 2018

Global economy will slow down further in 2019: think tank

The pace of global economic growth will slow down further next year amid persistent downside risks, according to South Korea’s state-run think tank on Tuesday.The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, an organization affiliated with the Prime Minister’s Office, set the world economic growth rate at 3.5 percent for next year, as compared with 3.7 percent expected this year.“The global economy, which has been on a recovery trend under the US lead, has surpassed its h

Nov. 20, 2018

Sales of Korean firms up for 2nd year in 2017

Combined sales by South Korean companies rose for the second-straight year in 2017 on better performances in the manufacturing, telecommunication and retail sectors, government data showed Tuesday.The combined sales from 12,579 companies, excluding financial firms, reached 2,343 trillion won ($2.07 trillion) last year, up 8.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It is based on a survey of the companies that have more than 50 regular workers and paid-in

Nov. 20, 2018

Vietnamese consumers positive about Korean goods: poll

The bulk of Vietnamese consumers are positive about the design and image of South Korean goods, but many feel burdened by their high prices, a poll showed Tuesday.The survey of 2,000 Vietnamese people, taken by the Ho Chi Minh City office of the Korea International Trade Association, showed 84 percent of the respondents think South Korean products have good designs.An additional 16 percent consider their designs ordinary, with no negative responses.Concerning the image of South Korean goods, 89

Nov. 20, 2018

Korea's producer prices fall for first time in nearly a year in Oct.

 South Korea's producer prices backtracked for the first time in nearly one year in October as farm production recovered in the fall season, central bank data showed Tuesday.The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, reached 105.41 last month, down 0.4 percent from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It is the first on-month decline since November last year when the index edged down 0.1 percent. On a year-on-year basis, i

Nov. 20, 2018

Korea needs to boost service exports

Korea needs to step up efforts to increase exports in the service sector to offset a possible decline in the outbound shipment of its major manufactured goods, experts here say.Exports have shored up the slowing Korean economy so far this year, as decreasing investment and slumping consumption decelerate its growth.According to data recently released by Korea Customs Service, the country’s goods exports increased 22.7 percent on-year to $54.9 billion in October, mainly on the back of a ris

Nov. 19, 2018

Finance minister says it's time to help innovation-led growth bear fruit

South Korea's chief economic policymaker said Monday that more efforts should be placed on economic reform to help innovation-led growth policies bear fruit.In a meeting with businessmen, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said it's time to seek measures so the incumbent Moon Jae-in administration's economic policy goals such as income-led growth can make headway."We have had much debate on those issues, but it's time to allow the policies to produce some results," the senior official said

Nov. 19, 2018

Retail investors own over W3t of suspended Samsung Biologics

Retail investors are estimated to hold more than 3 trillion won worth of Samsung BioLogics Co. shares, whose trading was suspended last week over window-dressing, a corporate researcher said Monday.As of last Wednesday, individual investors owned an estimated 9.6 million shares of Samsung BioLogics, or 14.53 percent, according to Chaebul.com. It translates into 3.2 trillion won ($2.83 billion) in value, based on the closing price Wednesday, when its trading was halted. Foreign investors held an

Nov. 19, 2018

BOK chief calls for resilience against external risks

South Korea’s central bank chief on Monday urged Asia-Pacific economies to reinforce their resilience against potential external risk factors amid a fluctuating global financial environment.“We must enhance the general resilience of the regional economy so that drastic changes in capital flows stemming from external risks do not lead to systematic risks,” Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a conference jointly held at Seoul’s Plaza Hotel by the BOK and the Bank for In

Nov. 19, 2018

Seoul stocks end higher on eased trade woes

South Korean stocks ended higher for the second consecutive session on Friday as investor sentiment recovered on hopes of eased US-China trade friction. The South Korean currency rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 4.34 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 2,092.40. Trading volume was moderate at 294 million shares worth 4.69 trillion won (US$4.15 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 564 to 261.Individual and institutional investors picked up 18

Nov. 16, 2018

Home ownership rate in Korea stands at 55.9% in 2017

The home ownership rate in South Korea came to 55.9 percent in 2017, 0.4 percentage point up from a year earlier, government data showed Friday. The data released by Statistics Korea said 11 million households out of 19.67 million across the country owned homes in 2017. The average price of homes came to 225 million won ($199,000), and the average size stood at 86.3 square meters.The data also showed that the total number of residences across the country came to 17.12 million units, up

Nov. 16, 2018

Oil funds lose big on plunging crude prices

South Korea's three oil commodity exchange traded funds have chalked up abysmal returns over the past month due to tumbling crude prices, a fund evaluator said Friday.The oil-focused funds, which are pegged to crude prices, posted an average return of over minus 15 percent in the month to Friday, according to market tracker KG Zeroin. Oil ETFs consist of either crude firm stocks or futures and derivative contracts to track the price and performance of oil, or in some cases oil-related indexes.Th

Nov. 16, 2018

Retail sales, industrial output face slump in restructuring-hit regions

Retail sales and industrial output in restructuring-hit regions remained in a slump in the third quarter, government data showed Thursday.According to the data compiled by Statistics Korea, retail sales in South Gyeongsang Province, North Jeolla Province and Ulsan declined 2.3 percent, 1.2 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively, in the July-September period, from a year earlier. The regions are home to major shipyards, including Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., and automaking-related firms, suc

Nov. 15, 2018

Shorter workweek adds to corporate woes

Local companies are struggling to adapt to a shorter workweek and calling for greater flexibility in its application, but their calls face vehement objections from the country’s umbrella labor groups.Under a recently revised law, the maximum weekly working hours have been reduced to 52 from 68. The revisions took effect in July for companies with 300 or more employees and will also affect smaller businesses in the coming years.There seems to be public consensus here that Korea’s noto

Nov. 14, 2018

ICT exports rise for 24th straight month in Oct.

South Korean exports of information and communication technology posted growth for the 24th month in a row in October on the back of brisk overseas sales of semiconductors, government data showed Wednesday.A total of $20.21 billion worth of ICT products were shipped overseas last month, up 12.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The total exceeded the $20 billion mark for the third month in a row and marked the second-highest monthly tally to d

Nov. 14, 2018